Ever since I can remember, books and documents by the above named author
have always been of the kind I could simply order unseen, and without having
to first read the comments and reviews of his own peers or other
programmers. When ever he released something new, it could be found on my
bookshelf just as soon as I could finally release it from its first position
after being purchased, right here on my desk, and next to my keyboard where
its pages quickly frayed due to my constant use of it. I could never do
less than to place the value of his writings right up there with those of
other notable 'Delphinians' such as Julian Bucknall, Bob Swart, Gary
Enstminger, and Jeff Dunteman, ( Anyone know if Dunteman is still around?
I haven't seen anything from him in a long time. )
As part of CodeGear's upgrade offer to Delphi 2009 Professional, I
didn't have to even consider getting his latest offering, because a pdf
version came right along with it...only requiring the time it took to
download it from their Registered Users Site. And I really hate to say it,
but after perusing most of it and intently reading the first couple chapters
in their entirety, I am truly disappointed!
It becomes more than obvious as one reads this so called "Handbook",
that once again the author is more than simply knowledgeable about the
subject just as he has always been, however knowledge and the sharing of it
in meaningful and helpful ways to those who look to the author for such
wisdom he or she has been able to amass for themselves are two very
different things, with the first requiring intelligence and perception on
almost an empathic level, and the latter needing the innate talent of the
gifted teacher!
Up until this very day I had always considered this author to have
been blessed with both these qualities to a level very few of us ever reach
ourselves. But with this release, I must consider the very real possibility
that the writer has indeed lost that ability he always shared with us in the
past, which allowed him to take the oft times incomprehensible or at least
previously unexplained, and break it down for the rest of us so that we
could share in the wisdom he was otherwise privy to!
Here's a simple example of what I'm talking about. A full
sub-chapter in title only, the author wastes a full half page saying
absolutely nothing except that he himself doesn't understand...a
consideration that does not belong here, but should have been directed at
those who might have been better able to clarify the subject!
"Anything New in the Editor?
While the last few versions of Delphi have seen useful improvements in the
editor, with the introduction of Block Completion, Live Templates,
Refactorings, and many updates in the Code Insight toolset, Delphi 2009
provides updated support for new language features but little more in this
area. What is new is the Auto Invoke option of Code Completion. This is
disabled by default and can be enabled in the corresponding section of the
Code Insight page of the main Options dialog box of the IDE. What is the
effect of Auto Invoke? The editor should keep track of your recent
selections and offer to repeat them. How this actually works in practice is
hard to tell."
Here's another...this one even more demeaning to the author and
unhelpful to us! Providing little more than a warning that we do this at
our own risk instead of providing the kind of help and wisdom regarding such
problems we had come to expect from someone of his ability!
"Windows Install Clean Up
At times, when uninstalling Delphi to replace it with an updated version,
the installer complains, stops and won't work as expected. In these cases,
Code- Gear recommends cleaning all of the application folders (including
some hidden ones that depend on the operating system). An alternative it to
use Microsoft own Windows Install Clean Up utility, that you can find at:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?
scid=kb;en-us;290301
Beware that using such a low-level tool can hamper your system, so proceed
with caution (only after reading the instructions and at your own risk)."
I was at first quite happy to see that the author was devoting 3
full chapters to the biggest change in Delphi...that of Unicode! But I was
soon and even more dismayed by the way he approached this important subject
group.
I felt like I was reading a technical manual that was meant only to
impart facts and their imposition on those that came before! No
understanding was provided, no non-theoretical examples in practice were
offered, and so I came away knowing a few things I didn't know before, but I
had no practical references to guide me in the best means and ways to deal
with what would surely turn out to be the biggest change to the way I code
since reference counted Long Strings were first given us! I will
undoubtedly need to look elsewhere for the practical answers to the
questions already brewing in the dark recesses of my brain! And the
following over-simplified statement which was offered up like a sacrifice in
apology so that as he then told us, we could learn thru trial and error
which we should or should not turn on or off! You had nothing better to
offer us...your loyal readers...in the form of at the least a quick
explanation of each warning you so carefully listed then forgot about?
"Turn on All String Conversion Warnings"
I'm so tired of reading things like this when what is really needed
is the experts view and yes, even opinions, in regards to the available
switches and what they may or may not do and whether they are documented or
not officially recognized as he goes on to state later in this chapter which
offers little more than copycat interpretation of technical data the author
was provided. This kind of writing which imposes facts upon the reader
without explanation or value wasn't and still isn't acceptable where I went
to high school!
"Additional switches to pass to the compiler can be used to insert directly
further command line compiler options not specifically supported by the IDE,
although having this feature available now technically means that Delphi
2009 now supports each and every compiler option."
Am I'm being to hard? Perhaps so since I did get this for free,
however if intellectual property is to have and keep its inherent value,
especially that which is so easily and freely copied by and for those who
want it, that value must as certainly be judged. And if in this judging its
value is indeed acknowledged, then it must be protected from free
distribution as all authors and publishers know. It is therefore just as
obvious that neither the author, or CodeGear though very differently about
this endeavor than I have so far. My best hope is that I will find the rest
of its chapters more useful than I have those I've read so far!
Please note: The opinions expressed here are just
that...opinions...and purely my own! As such I welcome any and all attempts
to cause my re-evaluation of these opinions through honest debate, privately
and/or as tolerated here on this List by its members and moderators.
from "Robert Meek" dba "Tangentals Design"
Creative Concepts Programming for Windows Vista
E-mail: [email protected]
"Most people would sooner die than think; in fact, they do so!"
[Bertrand Russell 1872-1970]
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